Laser cutting machines are frequently utilized to manufacture low quantity or complex components from sheet material. In some laser-cutting arrangements, the sheet material is pre-cut to standard lengths that are fed onto a platform of a laser cutting machine. The pre-cut standard lengths of sheet material are often remotely stored in inventory.
In other laser-cutting arrangements, the sheet material is in coil form. In coil-fed systems, material is pulled from the coil, straightened, and fed onto the platform of a laser cutting machine in a continuous feed manner.
Changing sheet material between manufacturing jobs in either above system or arrangement, for example to utilize a different material type or thickness, is cumbersome and time consuming. Improvement of such arrangements and systems is desired.